Investigating the Effect of Bitter Orange Essential Oil on Reducing Anxiety Caused by Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome: A Double-Blind Clinical Trial

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the effect of bitter orange on reducing anxiety caused by opioid withdrawal syndrome. Methods: This study was a random clinical trial with a pretest-posttest design with a follow-up with a control group. Using a convenience sampling method, 42 people who were referred to the Isar Rehabilitation Clinic of Semnan City were studied. The subjects were randomly divided into two groups of bitter orange and control. The BAI Anxiety Questionnaire was given to the subjects in the pretest, posttest, and follow-up stages and the data were analyzed by SPSS-26 software. Results: The results showed that the mean scores of anxiety caused by opioid withdrawal syndrome decreased in the post-test and follow-up stages compared to the pretest stage in the two groups of experimental and control (p <0.05, F = 4.685). Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, it can be stated that bitter orange essential oil can reduce the anxiety caused by opioid withdrawal syndrome.